Buddhist Geeks

Author Biography:

1
Rivers flow and eddies form.
An eddy is a relatively stable pattern whose elements continually change. It is “standing-streaming,” a term from Evan Thompson’s marvelous book, Mind in Life.
All eddies disperse eventually.
2
In a river, an eddy depends on many conditions. These include:

The state of the eddy itself just one moment ago

The shape of the riverbed, nearby boulders, water flows immediately upstream, and the amount of snowfall last winter. Going back and back, those conditions depend on the history of the earth, the solar system, the universe.

Countless molecules of water

3
Molecules depend on atoms, such as hydrogen and oxygen.
Almost all [...]

Episode Description:
We conclude our uber-geeky conversation with neuropsychologist and dharma teacher Rick Hanson this week, exploring what might be happening in the run-up to the transforming moment of nirvana. In the Theravada tradition of Buddhism the moment or nirvana (or nibbana as it’s called in that tradition), and even the period leading up to it, is spiritually transformative. Using one common map of the experiences leading up to nirvana–the 8 jhanas–Rick explains what he thinks might be happening in the brain as it approaches the “event horizon” of nibbana.
He also uses the metaphor of eddies in a stream [...]

Episode Description:
We’re joined again by Neuropsychologist and Theravada teacher, Rick Hanson. This time we explore the Buddhist proposition of anatta, or selflessness, from the point of view of neuroscience and the brain. Rick explores whether a self actually exists using the following 4 core attributes of how a self is often defined:

It is unified & coherent
It is stable & enduring
It is independent
It is the whole of experience

Looking at current research on how the self manifests in the brain, as what Hanson calls a “network phenomenon”, he deconstructs each of these four attributes, arguing that “self is not special [...]

Episode Description:
This week, we’re joined by trained Neuropsychologist and Theravada Buddhist teacher, Rick Hanson, to explore what he calls “applied Neurodharma.” We begin by exploring the 1st noble truth of suffering, but from the perspective of evolutionary neurobiology. In other words, why does it appear that we’re hard-wired to suffer, and what are the mechanisms behind it?
And just as in the 4 noble truths, where we start with the diagnosis and end with a prescription, after exploring the 1st noble truth, Rick shares some suggestions for training the mind to overcome some of the hardwired tendencies we [...]